Years ago I was doing a tour in Germany. We stayed in a hotel on the former border between East and West Germany and visited several towns and smaller cities in both East and West Germany. We also visited a church. A large Roman Catholic church: the Vierzehnheiligen Basilikum (the basilica of the fourteen holy helpers).
The first thing you noticed when coming in was the opulence, the wealth and the shimmer of the place. There is a saying in Dutch: everything is not gold that shimmers. In that church? It was! At least it seemed to be. And it made me uncomfortable. Because even though the area surrounding that church weren't rocky and barren fields, I can't imagine the majority of the people living in the vicinity of that church were well to do in any way. Which meant the church was disproportionately rich.
It was a beautiful church though and the immediate surroundings were really pretty too. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the outside of the church, but the inside is the more stunning of the two I feel.
This is my 47th entry to Photo Team for Thursday. Why not join?
Mooooii, zo sober als veel kerken zijn ingericht zo rijk zijn anderen dat weer wel....
ReplyDelete(al denk ik dan vaak wel stiekem, heel erg mooi maar dat geld had beter besteed kunnen worden aan (wereld)diaconale zaken.
Absolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen a poor church ??? Not me ! Wherever you go the catholic churches are overloaded with oppulence, wealth and pomp ! When they were built people starved. I don't think that this was written in the bible ! What makes me the most angry is when they ask for an entrance fee ! I just don't go inside ! I don't pay for going in a church ! The vatican has enough money to entertain its churches !
ReplyDeleteVery nice... the interiors are grand indeed!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Neeraj
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http://www.bharari.net
Prachtig foto's van een mooi interieur van een kerk. Wij hebben genoten, zeker in deze tijd van vele processies in Spanje vanwege Semana Santa. Ook daarom al een mooie invulling door jou van het thema.
ReplyDeleteFijne Pasen en Saludos de Albert y Mara
That rich thing happened a lot, but, Gattina, there are plenty of plain, old protestant churches in this area -- mostly pioneer churches of a bygone era. Older catholic churches still stand out, however.
ReplyDeleteOh Mara, the English expression is: All that glitters is not gold.
Wow, that is some church! It's very fancy!
ReplyDelete